The # 1 most prescribed drug in America is atorvastatin (Lipitor). About 28 million people take it daily. Add in other statins and the total exceeds 50 million. Physicians have been trained to believe that LDL cholesterol is responsible for most heart disease. Lowering this bad actor is supposed to save the day. What if cardiovascular complications were also caused by infection? Can people develop heart disease from tick bites, periodontitis or COVID-19?
A Physician’s Misdiagnosed Heart Disease:
One of our heroes was Neil Spector, MD. He was an extraordinary human being. Dr. Spector was a cancer researcher at Duke University. We got to know him because of his amazing book, “Gone in a Heartbeat: A Physician’s Search for True Healing.”
When Dr. Spector first started experiencing troublesome symptoms, his doctors told him he was suffering from stress. His heart would speed up like crazy and he thought he might be having a heart attack. He was also incredibly fatigued, which was strange because he was a long-distance runner.
Sadly, Dr. Spector had Lyme Disease that had gone undiagnosed for years. The bacteria destroyed his heart. That led to a heart transplant at Duke in 2009. You really should take some time to listen to Dr. Spector’s story at these links:
Show 1003: From Lyme to Alpha-Gal: The Latest on Tick-Borne Diseases
Show 1081: What Do You Need to Know About Lyme Disease?
The People’s Pharmacy is reader supported. When you buy through links in this post, we may earn a small affiliate commission (at no cost to you).
People Can Develop Heart Disease After Catching Lyme:
Dr. Neil Spector died on June 14, 2020 at the age of 63. He was taken from us far too soon. I cannot help but think that if he had been diagnosed promptly and treated appropriately for Lyme disease, he might still be with us.
A review in the journal Cardiology in Review (Oct. 24, 2024) reveals that a surprisingly large number of people can develop heart disease after catching Lyme disease from a tick bite.
The authors write:
“Lyme disease (LD) is an inflammatory disorder caused by an infectious bacterial agent and is the most common tick-borne illness in the United States and Europe. About 1.5-10% of adults infected with LD develop cardiac complications.”
The authors go on to describe how Lyme disease affects the heart muscle, valves and coronary arteries. I suspect that most cardiologists do not realize that a bacterial infection like Lyme can create symptoms that mimic a heart attack.
Tick Bites, Alpha-Gal Syndrome and Heart Disease?
We were among the first medical journalists in the nation to realize the significance of Alpha-Gal Syndrome (AGS). That’s because we were fortunate enough to interview Dr. Thomas Platts-Mills in 2011. He is the researcher who discovered this unusual illness.
We published this message from a reader of our nationally syndicated newspaper column on May 7, 2012:
Q. I almost died from an allergic reaction to lamb chops. I was surprised when my allergist asked about ticks, but told him I had gotten into a nest of seed ticks a year ago. Now I have to avoid all meat. I carry an Epi-Pen just in case I am exposed accidentally.
I have also been avoiding cheese, since it is produced with the use of rennet, an animal product. Am I being overly cautious?
A. You are describing Alpha-Gal allergy, a condition that is initially triggered by a tick bite. People then develop a delayed allergic reaction to meat, including beef, pork, lamb and even venison or rabbit. Chicken, turkey and fish do not trigger the allergy, which can range from itchy hives to the type of anaphylactic reaction you experienced.
According to the lab at the University of Virginia that uncovered this condition, most patients with Alpha-Gal Syndrome are able to eat cheese without reacting.
AGS is Expanding:
Alpha-Gal Syndrome (AGS) is becoming widespread in the U.S.
According to the CDC (June 26, 2025):
“More than 110,000 suspected cases of AGS were identified between 2010 and 2022. However, cases of AGS are not nationally notifiable to CDC. The actual number of AGS cases in the United States is not known, but as many as 450,000 people may be affected. More data and research are needed to understand how many people are affected by this condition.”
In the early days, most healthcare professionals were unaware of the symptoms of Alpha-Gal Syndrome. People would show up at an emergency department in the middle of the night with severe gastrointestinal symptoms, hives, difficulty breathing or even anaphylaxis. This would often be a few hours after eating a burger or barbecue. Now, most emergency physicians are fully familiar with AGS and are prepared to treat the severe symptoms promptly.
What cardiologists may not realize, though, is that people who have developed alpha-gal allergic symptoms may also be developing coronary artery disease (CAD). Dr. Thomas Platts-Mills, the researcher who discovered Alpha-Gal Syndrome, has written a fascinating article with colleagues (Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology, July, 2019).
They note:
“To our knowledge, this is the first report that has described an association between the IgE response to α-Gal, or any specific allergen, and the burden of CAD. A link between a food allergen and CAD (coronary artery disease) may not seem a priori obvious, but there are several elements of the immune response to α-Gal that argue for biological plausibility.
“In summary, we report here that a specific antibody response to the dietary antigen α-Gal is associated with an increased burden of atherosclerosis and plaques with less stable characteristics. As the causal agent of a delayed allergic reaction to mammalian meat, which is IgE mediated, the glycolipid form of α-Gal may be particularly relevant to understanding its role in atherosclerosis.”
Dr. Platts-Mills and colleagues go on to connect the dots in this article (Aging, April 5, 2019):
“Emerging evidence suggests a link between allergic disease and cardiovascular disease. The idea that there could be a connection between ‘allergies’ and heart disease is not readily apparent. Nonetheless, over the past 20 years research in mice and humans has linked hematopoietic cells and soluble factors that mediate allergic disease with coronary artery disease (CAD).”
I know that is pretty technical. The bottom line seems to be that a tick bite leads to an allergic reaction to mammalian meat and other byproducts containing the Alpha-Gal sugar molecule. People make IgE antibodies when exposed to Alpha-Gal. That leads to “chronic inflammation in the walls of coronary arteries” to quote Dr. Platts-Mills and colleagues. Do cardiologists understand that a tick bite could create conditions that lead some people to develop heart disease?
People Who Have Had COVID Can Develop Heart Disease:
An article in AJMP Focus (Oct. 6, 2024) links COVID-19 infections to worse heart disease outcomes.
The authors write:
“Individuals with a COVID-19 diagnosis had almost 2 times the total medical costs, double the number of inpatient admissions, and 4–5 times longer inpatient stays associated with HD [heart disease] than individuals without a COVID-19 diagnosis.”
Many Other Infections May Lead Patients to Develop Heart Disease:
There is a long list of infectious agents that have been linked to cardiovascular disease. Periodontal disease can be caused by the pathogen Porphyromonas gingivalis.
Authors writing in the journal Medical Science Monitor (May 7, 2025) state:
“The severity of periodontal status increased the risk of CAD [coronary artery disease] and was correlated with the severity of CAD. High concentrations of Pg [Porphyromonas gingivalis ] in plasma was a significant risk factor for CAD, with clinical significance in assessing the risk of CAD. Pg appeared to enhance the association between periodontitis and CAD.”
Other pathogens that have been linked to the development of heart disease include:
- Herpes viruses
- Cytomegalovirus
- Hepatitis A
- Chlamydia pneumoniae
- Influenza viruses
- Helicobacter pylori
- Epstein-Barr Virus
Final Words:
You can read more about how infections can cause some people to develop heart disease at this link:
How COVID and Many Other Infections Cause Heart Disease
We are not saying that LDL cholesterol is an innocent bystander. There is ample evidence that it is an important contributor to why people develop heart disease. But it is not the only factor. I hope that I have provided enough evidence to suggest that a number of infections can also contribute to the development of heart disease.
Learn More:
My point is that people develop heart disease for lots of reasons. You can read about many other contributors in our eGuide to Cholesterol Control and Heart Health. The online resource can be found under the Health eGuides Tab.
If you learned something new from this article, please share it with friends and family. If you encourage them to sign up for our free online newsletter we would so grateful. We are hopeful that cardiologists will recognize that there are a great many risk factors for heart disease beyond LDL cholesterol.
Citations
- Zheng, Z., et al, "Medical Science Monitor, May 7, 2025, doi: 10.12659/MSM.947296
- Maliha, M., et al, "Cardiac Manifestations of Lyme Disease," Cardiology in Review, Oct. 24, 2024, doi: 10.1097/CRD.0000000000000807
- Wilson, J.M., et al, "IgE to the Mammalian Oligosaccharide Galactose-α-1,3-Galactose Is Associated With Increased Atheroma Volume and Plaques With Unstable Characteristics-Brief Report," Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology, July, 2018, doi: 10.1161/ATVBAHA.118.311222
- Wilson, J.M., et al, "IgE, α-Gal and atherosclerosis," Aging, April 5, 2019, doi: 10.18632/aging.101894
